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TCA and Best Execution Reporting
Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) and execution analytics provided by Quod Financial used to support firms in evaluating execution quality, documenting best-execution practices, and monitoring trading performance across markets.
Transaction Cost Analysis is a core capability within Quod Financial’s trading ecosystem, used to evaluate how trades are executed and how execution decisions perform in real market conditions. By analysing order, execution, and market data, Quod TCA helps trading firms assess execution outcomes, compare performance against market references, and meet best-execution and regulatory requirements.
The solution supports multi-asset trading activity and is used by buy-side, sell-side, and broker firms that require consistent insight into execution quality, algorithm performance, and trading costs.
Your complete TCA provider
What is Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) and how is it used in trading platforms?
What is Quod Financial’s Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA)?
Quod Financial’s TCA, also referred to as AEP (Analytical Execution Performance), is a multi-asset analytics tool embedded within Quod’s trading ecosystem. It is designed to measure, monitor, and optimise execution performance across equities, derivatives, FX, and other electronic markets.
AEP captures order-by-order execution data, aggregates metrics for benchmarking, and provides dashboards for actionable insights. Unlike standalone TCA solutions, Quod TCA integrates directly with trading workflows, allowing continuous evaluation of execution quality and immediate feedback into trading strategies.
How TCA is used in trading platforms?
Within trading platforms, Quod TCA analyses historical and real-time execution data to assess trading outcomes against benchmarks such as VWAP, slippage, and spread capture. The insights produced guide traders in evaluating strategy performance and refining execution policies.
This capability is reinforced by:
- Supporting both pre-trade and post-trade analysis, enabling traders to anticipate costs and optimise order routing.
- Providing dashboards and alerts that allow trading teams to monitor execution performance continuously.
- Feeds directly into routing and algorithmic strategies, so improvements are implemented systematically rather than manually.
What TCA and execution analytics does Quod Financial offer?
Pre-trade and Post-trade analysis
Quod Financial's Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) solution, known as AEP (Analytical Execution Performance), offers both post-trade and instantly exploitable pre-trade analysis of executions. This powerful tool provides comprehensive analysis and insights for clients, traders, and quants, allowing them to assess execution performance, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to optimize trading strategies.
Accurate Data Capture
AEP TCA/Analytics effectively handles the complexity of big data, providing near or real-time insights for actionable decisions. With its powerful dashboard, it offers the best tool for monitoring overall trading activities and gaining a comprehensive understanding of every single order execution. The dashboard provides valuable information and visualizations that enable users to track and analyze trading performance efficiently.
Global View
- Venue latency
- Venue hit ratio
- Rejection rate
- Spread / Spread capture
- Broker algorithm performance monitoring
- Venue toxicity
Order by Order
- Our platform offers a descriptive and comprehensive audit trail of the order lifecycle, presented in plain English.
- It provides a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of the decision-making process, along with the context of each decision, including relevant market snapshots.
- We attach relevant benchmarks such as Slippage, Calculated VWAP (Volume-Weighted Average Price), and Spread-capture to assess and determine the execution performance. These benchmarks allow for a thorough evaluation of the order execution against industry-standard metrics, aiding in performance analysis and optimization.
Who is Quod TCA designed for?
Quod TCA is designed for buy-side, sell-side, and broker firms that require transparency into execution quality, algorithm performance, and regulatory compliance.
For buy-side teams, this means the ability to assess execution costs and refine trading strategies. Sell-side firms benefit from insights into venue performance and client reporting, while brokers can monitor algorithmic routing and provide evidence to support best-execution obligations
What problems does Quod TCA solve for trading firms?
Quod TCA helps firms understand true execution costs, benchmark performance, detect inefficiencies, and comply with best-execution and regulatory requirements. It does this by breaking down these capabilities into key areas, including:
- Execution cost visibility: Quantifies slippage, opportunity cost, and market impact.
- Performance benchmarking: Compares trade execution to multiple market reference points (VWAP, spread capture, slippage).
- Inefficiency detection: Highlights venue, algorithm, and routing issues.
- Regulatory compliance: Provides data and reports required for best-execution obligations.
How does Quod TCA work ?
Order and execution data analysis
- Quod TCA tracks every order from the moment it is placed in the Quod O/EMS to its completion.
- It records details such as order size, type, timestamps, and fills, providing a complete view of how each trade was executed.
- This allows traders to see exactly what happened during the trade and identify areas for improvement.
Market data integration
- The system captures snapshots of market conditions at the time of each trade, including prices, spreads, and liquidity.
- By combining market data with order details, Quod TCA can benchmark trades against realistic market scenarios.
- This ensures comparisons are accurate and reflect actual market opportunities and risks.
Performance Benchmarking
- Trades are measured against multiple reference points such as VWAP, slippage, and spread capture.
- These benchmarks show how well an order performed relative to the market and help detect inefficiencies.
- Traders can quickly identify if trades met their execution goals or if adjustments are needed.
Analytics and reporting
- Quod TCA provides dashboards, reports, and alerts that highlight actionable insights.
- Visual tools make it easy to spot patterns, monitor performance trends, and assess strategy effectiveness.
- Alerts can notify teams of underperforming trades in real time, allowing faster responses.
Integration with workflow and algorithms
- Metrics feed directly into order routing and algorithmic strategies.
- Insights from past trades can automatically inform future execution decisions.
- This closes the loop between analysis and action, helping teams continuously optimise performance.
How does Quod TCA differ from other TCA solutions?
Quod TCA stands out by combining real-time, multi-asset analytics with native integration into the trading platform, enabling actionable insights to feed directly into execution strategies. Compared to standalone TCA solutions, it offers more immediate feedback, broader market coverage, and flexible workflow adaptation, while external solutions may be limited to post-trade analysis or require separate integration.
Here is a clear comparative table highlighting the key differences between Quod TCA and other TCA solutions:
|
Feature / Aspect |
Quod TCA |
Other TCA Solutions |
Benefits |
|
Integration |
Native integration with a modular multi-asset platform |
Often standalone, external or limited integration. It may require adapters or manual data export |
Enables seamless data flow and strategy execution without manual intervention |
|
Data Access |
Real-time execution data |
Mostly post-trade only |
Traders can act on insights immediately rather than retrospectively |
|
Asset Coverage |
Multi-asset: equities, derivatives, FX, other electronic markets |
Often single asset or limited coverage |
Supports holistic trading strategies across markets |
|
Analytics Flexibility |
Customisable dashboards and metrics tailored to client workflows |
Fixed reports and dashboards |
Teams can adjust analytics to suit strategy and internal processes |
|
Actionability |
Directly feeds into routing and algorithmic strategies |
Insights may require manual implementation |
Accelerates strategy refinement and cost optimization |
|
Pre-Trade & Post-Trade Analysis |
Supported |
Mostly post-trade |
Allows anticipation of costs and proactive optimization |
TCA / Best Execution Report
TCA / Best execution and Benchmarking are critical for regulatory reporting. Quod AEP uniquely provides the intelligence to immediately use analysis for real-time trading, as well as viewing overall execution performance.
- Receive benchmarks and 3rd party reference data.
- Seamlessly integrate external and 3rd party information, both to provide report benchmarks and also to export TCA data to other providers.
- Our persistent data store has full access to data via ITK, FIX, and API.
Expert Insight
Expert insight on TCA adoption
Transaction Cost Analysis has become a foundational capability for modern trading operations because it provides measurable evidence of execution quality and supports informed decision-making.
TCA is no longer limited to post-trade review but is increasingly used as an operational input into execution workflows.
Chief Data Science Officer, Quod Financial
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions on TCA and Execution Reporting